DAP and PKR – Why Not merge?

DAP elections in Perak ended in similar fashion as did in PKR albeit not as bad. By opening enough branches and voters on your side means you control the state, no matter whether the candidate or team is good and capable. It is quite baffling how these elections systems work. It's not that this does not happen in BN. ut Pakatan is supposedly superior and practises far superior demecracy, as they say.

At the end, no matter which party, only those with influence and resources win, not the candidate who is not corrupt, wise, smart and honest. The available post are rotated amongst select few and losers are given less powerful post just to pacify them, hence the fate of Kulasegaran.

Just before the Hulu Selangor by elections, I was invited by a PKR supporter, who is a local ethnic based organization leader, to join his proposed new branch. His main motivation appears to be a branch chairman and get any allocations funds that are made available. He says that his family, friends and relatives should make up the minimum number of members required to open a branch and urged me to join him or at least on a joint venture basis open one near my place.

He says that he will take care of day to day running and that I just need to show up when only necessary. He says not only PKR pays well, he can even get BN to pay him, especially during elections where he says he can get the money and there is no need to account for it at all, since no one knows who the members will vote. Now you know why there has been massive attempt to manipulate PKR elections, even at local branch level.

Back to DAP, even at national level, DAP is controlled by the same group. Losers in national level party elections are appointed to certain high level positions. Important post such as Chairman, General Secretary and Party advisers are usually rotated among a select few. Such unique brand of democracy in DAP.

What I don’t quite understand is what is the differences between DAP and PKR. Both claims to be multi racial and both espouses objectives which is not in many way dissimilar. Then why not merge these 2 entities. The same can be said on Gerakan and PPP in BN, why not merge?

As we all know, personality and not party ideology has been a mainstay in BN for a long time, so that’s an old story but what about DAP and PKR, who has been promising a ‘New Hope for Malaysia’, why can’t they merge and propose a more formidable opposition front to Malaysian.

I wonder why DAP has so far maintained ‘elegant silence’ on various blunders and foolish actions by Anwar and PKR but not quite with PAS. A certain race related pact between PKR and DAP, as alleged by Kulim MP makes a lot of sense. This may be part of ‘New Hope For Malaysia’, DAP maybe counting on PKR to deliver Malay votes while DAP can surely deliver non-malay votes. Hence, there is no specific reason to rely on PAS.

Could race and personality be the reason? I am sure it is. Party ideology and principles are not important, continued prominence and existence of certain race and personalities appear to be more important in both PKR and DAP.

Certain political leaders aspirations to be come Prime Minister and Deputy Prime minister could be the main motivation too.

If both PKR and DAP are merged, it is highly likely that some Deputy Prime Minister, Minister materials from DAP could be drowned out by even more power obsessed candidates from PKR, if they ever find their way to Putrajaya. So policies, social justice, democracy, reforms and constitution are secondary and simply tools to gain power